Locally: Gonzaga women’s cross country earns top postseason honors

From staff reports

Gonzaga women’s cross country coach Jake Stewart was named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year, the conference announced on Wednesday. In addition, women’s runner and two-time WCC individual champion Rosina Machu was named WCC Runner of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Stewart, in his seventh year at the helm of the GU women’s cross country and track teams, captured his first coach of the year nod after the Bulldogs won their first West Coast Conference team title since 2015 in November. Gonzaga later qualified for just its second NCAA Championship, placing fourth at the West Region Championships on Nov. 15.

This season, the Gonzaga women earned six team titles and reached their highest USTFCCCA ranking, climbing as high as No. 16. Their previous high of 21st also came under Stewart in 2022. In the West Region, GU matched its program high of No. 3, a mark it maintained for three straight weeks.

Machu’s honor caps her decorated career for Gonzaga cross country. She earned 13 top-10 finishes, including four race wins. She is a three-time first-team All-WCC finisher, a three-time All-West Region finisher, and the second female cross country All-American in program history, placing 16th at the NCAA Championships in 2023. Last season, Machu became the first runner in Gonzaga history to win WCC Runner of the Year. This season, she became the first to win it in consecutive seasons.

Machu also holds program 4-and 6-kilometer records, improving her 6K record on numerous occasions over the past two seasons.

• Washington State freshman Evans Kurui was named WCC Men’s Co-Runner of the Year after winning the NCAA West Regional and the West Coast Conference Championship races.

In his first collegiate season, Kurui started off the season with back-to-back wins at the WSU Alumni Open and Cougar Classic. Kurui set a course record in his second race at Colfax Golf Club, running the 8K in 22 minutes, 46.72 seconds, nearly 20 seconds faster than the previous record holder.

During the season, Kurui ran the 10th-fastest 10K time in the nation and the 13th-fastest 8K in the nation. His 10K time also topped all freshmen in the nation.

College volleyball

Washington State Volleyball had three players earn all-conference recognition from the West Coast Conference.

Seniors Katy Ryan and Sage Brustad were both named to the All-WCC first team, and Lucie Blažková earned All-WCC second-team and freshman team honors.

Ryan is a graduate of Lakeland High School; Brustad is a transfer from Eastern Washington.

San Diego freshman setter Kylie Munday, who is a Post Falls grad, also earned co-setter of the year honors.

College soccer

Aaron Lewis announced that he is stepping down as head coach of the Gonzaga men’s soccer program. Gonzaga Athletic Director Chris Standiford named assistant coach Chris McGaughey interim head coach for next year and Christo Michaelson will remain on staff as an assistant coach.

Lewis became head coach in 2021 and compiled a 20-40-11 record.

• North Idaho College men’s soccer forward Ismael Mane was selected to the NJCAA All-American second team.

Mane, a freshman from Paris, averaged one goal per game this season. Selections were made by the NJCAA DI Men’s Soccer Committee.

College basketball

Washington State women’s basketball forward Dayana Mendes was named the WCC Freshman Player of the Week, the conference announced Monday.

Mendes totaled 36 points and shot at a 46.4% clip from the field over the team’s three games, while averaging 5.0 rebounds over 17.0 minutes per game. She recorded her first career double-double Nov. 28 against Norfolk State with 16 points and 10 rebounds

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Shooting

Mt. Spokane’s Ensley Breeden took sixth place out of 27 competitors during the Washington State Indoor International Rifle Championships on Nov. 2 at the Spokane Rifle Club.

Breeden scored 1,093 points out of a possible 1,200. Spencer Fitzpatrick was eighth with 1,045 points, and Kaylee Geller from Deer Park was ninth with 1,039 points.

It was a full-course match consisting of 40 shots in each of three positions (kneeling, prone, standing sequence) and shot indoors using small-bore (0.22) rifles.